Hyperlinks indicate that clicking on a piece of text or image will take you to related information.
112
votes
12answers
6k views
Why shouldn't we use words such as 'here' and 'this' in textlinks?
Over the years of surfing on the web I have found numerous examples of people saying that you shouldn't use the word "here" in a textlink etc. Personally I like the idea of using the word, because it ...
38
votes
6answers
2k views
When should hyperlinks be underlined?
Have you noticed that more and more websites have removed underlines from hyperlinks? For example, the current beta test of Google doesn't have underlines on the search results.
Google, along with ...
33
votes
7answers
2k views
Do users trust shortened URLs?
I've got some problems with shortened URLs personally; they're really easy to create and not descriptive, so it's fairly easy to make them link to malware. I'm talking about links like ...
27
votes
8answers
4k views
Is 'Home' button still a must?
I was wondering if the 'Home' button is still a must on a website menu, or are users already used to clicking on the Logo?
There is a qustion on ux.stackexchange.com about this topic - Home button vs ...
20
votes
10answers
1k views
What are the differences between buttons and links?
What are the differences between buttons and links?
20
votes
8answers
620 views
When should hyperlink text be used?
Should text links always be text or are there cases when it makes more sense to simply link the URL?
Examples
A text link might look like this: Responsive Web Design Techniques, Tools and Design ...
17
votes
7answers
413 views
What's Your Take on target=“_blank”?
Web developers can apply this attribute to anchor <a> tags to force the browser to open links in new tabs/windows.
Marketers love it because it allows them to link to external content without ...
17
votes
7answers
492 views
Hyperlink the verb or the noun?
I'm telling users to get something and where they can get it. Should I hyperlink the action or the destination? Which of the following would be easier for the user to parse and execute?
You need ...
17
votes
6answers
1k views
Do people use `jump to top of page` links?
I'm talking about links or buttons at the bottom of the page or screen simply linking to the top of the website.
Is there any data on that?
Are they used more frequently on long pages?
What about ...
16
votes
5answers
445 views
Is it a good idea to add tooltip to some text that says exactly the same?
Having tooltips on icons and images is understandable and the same goes for small pieces of links where tooltips may elaborate to the user what that particular link would do. Sometimes, however, ...
15
votes
8answers
550 views
Nested Creation Forms
This question is about how to create objects in a relational database without a ton of popups.
I'm working on a web app that has forms within forms. That is, you can create linked objects within the ...
14
votes
6answers
600 views
With 'OK' button, 'Cancel' should appear as secondary button or link?
When I make web application designs, every time I style form or overlay boxes with OK and Cancel button. I think of making them different. But is it a good practice?
Some people recommend primary and ...
13
votes
5answers
473 views
How to indicate that an image is a link too?
I have a section in my website called "Techonology" that is not part of the main content where I put the logos of each technology used in the website (PHP, MySQL, Bootstrap, etc). But I'm searching ...
13
votes
1answer
376 views
Is “Read more” a good link text?
Excerpts of posts displayed on a blog index page usually end with a link saying "Read more", "Continue reading", or similar.
Now, it's very well understood why "click here" is not a good link text, ...
12
votes
8answers
715 views
How to determine whether links have enough contrast?
I find it very hard to distinguish links from normal text on Programmers Stack Exchange, especially visited links on wall-of-text posts. The colour scheme used is:
Background #fafafa (there's a ...
12
votes
5answers
297 views
Is it better to offer 2-3 links to access the same page or one single link?
I'm currently working on an events website. On the events landing page, there is a list of upcoming events. Here is how each event is presented:
The banner, title and 'more details' button lead to ...
11
votes
8answers
233 views
A button with a link: understandable or confusing?
I'm working on a design of a touchscreen version of some web application. Since it's a touchscreen I would like all clickable elements to be rather big and easy to tap (it's a simple kiosk, so ...
11
votes
7answers
1k views
Do people use tag clouds
A lot of blogs, or other types of sites with a lot of content units use tag clouds, where trending words are shown, with more trending words being displayed bigger, and less popular words having a ...
11
votes
3answers
421 views
Is there a convention for distinguishing internal and external links in a website?
From a user point of view, I think it is a reasonable idea to distinguish internal and external links. By internal links, I mean links that have the same domain name than the website displaying the ...
10
votes
5answers
321 views
Should printed graphics of a domain start with www, uppercase/lowercase? How to make the user understand that it's a domain?
Consider a car used by a company which has "advertising" printed on it regarding the actual company.
How should domains be displayed on such a car? Is there any research regarding this? With a wide ...
9
votes
4answers
544 views
Should hyperlink text color be changed after visited
I must admit sometimes it is useful but i realy dislike it.
9
votes
7answers
361 views
Are links with images more likely to be clicked on?
I am working on making the home page of a blog, and I want as many people as possible to click on the posts in the home page and read them.
I'm thinking of listing the post title, and then a quick ...
9
votes
3answers
212 views
Identify different types of clickable shapes?
We're building an application that is like an interactive flow chart. When users are viewing the flow chart, they can interact with certain shapes:
Link to another flow chart.
Link to an external ...
9
votes
2answers
103 views
How to link to faceted search results when using AJAX/async UI?
When you have a traditional faceted search that uses AJAX the user experience is generally good because there is immediate feedback on the current state of the system. The user will know what other ...
8
votes
1answer
220 views
Why does MediaWiki put little padlocks on HTTPS links?
Does anyone know why MediaWiki puts little padlock icons next to HTTPS links? For example, if I put this link in a wiki article: https://twitter.com/harry_wood it would get a little yellow padlock by ...
8
votes
4answers
213 views
Linking a Navigation menu item to external URL
3 of 7 links on my navigation menu are external links to others websites (same company but other services/not the same domain). Those websites are not the core of the business.
Linking a navigation ...
8
votes
4answers
263 views
Is “search” really used on blogs?
I'm working on a a blog (which includes a mobile version), and I am not sure how useful a "search" button / box would be - especially on the mobile version. I can think of how it could be useful, but ...
8
votes
1answer
127 views
Is it better to have more links to the homepage on your website?
Is it a good idea to have more than 2 or 3 links to the homepage on your website?
Think about something like:
Link in Footer
Link in Header (obvious)
Link in content
Link the headerlogo to homepage
...
8
votes
2answers
154 views
Copy/pasting something that's clickable
I have a use case where an element on the page is the most obvious place to link from the list view to the instance view, but users also sometimes need to copy/paste the element text.
Because the ...
7
votes
3answers
318 views
Is it good to strike through visited links?
I've seen in some websites such as http://twomovies.name/watch_movie/Shutter_Island that visited links are striked.
Is this good practice?
7
votes
4answers
255 views
Actionable form element size
I am not a UI designer by any means. I have noticed in the last year or two that important buttons/links...etc on many websites now have very big click zones. I must say that I appreciate it, as ...
7
votes
8answers
562 views
Is it okay to open a help link in a new window?
I have read Jacob Nielson's usability book and he says links should never open in a new window. Here are some of his reasons:
Novice users cannot manage multiple windows and become disoriented.
The ...
6
votes
2answers
451 views
How to know what should be a button and what should be a link? [duplicate]
I implemented a webpage that in practice was a dead end and it just said "Your registration is complete. Please press the button to go back." and there was a button to go back to the page from where ...
6
votes
3answers
233 views
Links inside a dropdown
I'm wondering if links inside a dropdown provides a valid user experience, if it isn't part of the main navigation of the site.
For a news website I'm trying to come up with a nice way for the ...
6
votes
5answers
236 views
Visual differentiation between in-site links to outbound links
I'm trying to solve the differentiation between in-site links vs. outbound links. Currently I'm using for all links the blue from my palette and underline on hover. Due to the nature of the site, that ...
6
votes
3answers
194 views
How to resolve lengthy hyperlinks?
When you’re editing content and have links to organizations or frameworks that has many words, the link might exceed an entire row or break a row. These lengthy links look ridiculous and could ...
6
votes
3answers
312 views
Best way to link to PDFs/Word docs/etc?
I need to include links to PDFs, Word docs and other document types on a web page. A lot of sites display an icon for the file type, plus the file size. I'm inclined to remove both the icon and file ...
6
votes
4answers
146 views
Why is there a link to the current page?
If you are reading this, that might mean that you have opened this question (or maybe previewing the question). If you have indeed opened this question, when you click on the question title it links ...
6
votes
3answers
169 views
Web Based Portal Dashboard - the age old button vs link
I'm very aware and in agreement with the buttons for actions and links for navigation practice but I have come stuck on this design.
It is an internal company portal, and this is the dashboard for ...
6
votes
4answers
383 views
Navigation & Link Hover State
Note: Please link me if this has been asked, I couldn't find what I was looking for
I just had a conversation with my mate who is an Art Director in regards to a website he designed, when it was ...
5
votes
5answers
242 views
Use of 'read more' on teaser copy on index pages - is it necessary?
I have noticed that on a lot of news web sites that they no longer tend to use a 'click here' or a 'read more' link at the end of teaser text as a call to action. They tend to rely on the Article ...
5
votes
3answers
266 views
Preventing impossible clicks
I've posted a discussion on MSO with the same title (but the title was changed). It's about disabling elements that can be clicked but lead nowhere. For instance dead links. Currently, the 404 error ...
5
votes
4answers
157 views
Should same page interactions be underlined with a dashed line?
Should there be a visual distinction between a link and a AJAX like interaction? I quite often see that dashed underlining triggers an action on the same page. Is this a new convention? Would that ...
5
votes
2answers
76 views
How to differentiate users with accounts from guests in a ranking table?
In a game, I have a table with the max points of the players.
Some of the users are registered and others are guests (anonymous). The difference is that the name of registered users has a link to ...
5
votes
2answers
169 views
Linking into an infinite scrollable stream
I have a web app that contains a stream of entries with a "more..." button at the bottom that loads in older entries. If one of the entries is selected then the right panel displays details on that ...
5
votes
3answers
738 views
iPhone app link : AppStore + Website or only Website
I'm currently redesigning my personal web site (you can find it here) and I want to link to my different iOS apps. I have currently two links for each of my apps : Website and AppStore.
But is the ...
5
votes
5answers
101 views
When to display a link as a previously visited link?
Websites of today contains a variety of links including logo link, global and local navigation links, supplementary or related links, other header links, footer links, inline related links and more. ...
5
votes
5answers
182 views
link color contrast with non-link text
I have read a lot about color contrast with regard to the text and background color (snook's tool), however is there a similar tool for validating the contrast of linked and non-linked text?
There is ...
5
votes
2answers
114 views
Should I add the length of video to the link?
I'm wondering if there is an formalized research, analytics data, or documented best practices that indicate whether I should add the length of the video in a video link (or near the thumbnail).
...
5
votes
2answers
135 views
What is an elegant way to distinguish a normal link from a bookmarklet link?
How do you visually tell to your user that a given link is a bookmarklet so it should not be clicked but just bookmarked?
Is there a proper and recognized icon to use to alert the user that a given ...
